Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

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Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes are delicious and whimsical and are a perfect sweet treat for all lemon lovers. Delicate tangy lemon cupcakes from scratch with fresh tart raspberry buttercream frosting, these easy homemade cupcakes are the ultimate sweet summer dessert.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

There are some days when you just need to add a little zing in your day and these Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes hit their mark every time. Soft, moist scratch made lemon cupcakes smothered in bright raspberry buttercream frosting make these easy lemon cupcakes the perfect summertime treat. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a dark, chocolatey, espresso cupcake just as much as the next girl. But sometimes you’re looking for something a little off the beaten path and these Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes cupcakes couldn’t be more off the path if you tried.  Tart, sweet and full of attitude these cupcakes jump up and scream SHAZAM!! Surprisingly, not every food does that.

Lemon Raspberry Baking Perfection

So what makes this the best lemon cupcake recipe? Let me tell you…!!

  • Moist and easy lemon cupcakes topped off with fluffy tart raspberry buttercream frosting is going to be the best part of ANY day!
  • So much lemon flavor bursting out of these little cupcakes!
  • The raspberry buttercream frosting is it’s own entity and deserves separate recognition. It’s amazing!!
  • Summer baking recipe at it’s finest .. nothing screams summertime fun like tangy lemon flavor and tart raspberries.
  • Super moist lemon cupcakes are the answer to any and all of life’s problems.
  • Perfect for any occasion, this lemon cupcakes recipe is my go-to for all potlucks, backyard barbeques and family get togethers.

To make this lemon cupcake recipe … (and the raspberry buttercream frosting) … you will need:

  • All purpose flour
  • Baking Powder
  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla
  • Salt
  • Lemons
  • Milk
  • Powdered sugar
  • Raspberries

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes decorated

Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting Instructions

To make Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes, preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line 24 cupcake pan cups with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.

In another bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each egg until incorporated before adding the next.

Mix in the vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Gently mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture, one third at a time, alternating and add the milk.

Beat until just combined; do not over mix.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes filled tin
Fill the cupcake liners with batter 3/4 full and bake your lemon cupcakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes.

Let the Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a rack.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes cooked

To make the Raspberry Buttercream Frosting, puree the raspberries and then push the pureed raspberries through a sieve to remove the seeds.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes raspberry puree.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift the powdered sugar. Add the softened butter and cream together on low speed until the powdered sugar and butter are completely combined.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes sifted powdered sugar

Add in a pinch of salt and then the pureed raspberry sauce. Continue to beat on medium speed until the frosting is light and creamy.

If frosting is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a tablespoon of water or milk to thin it out.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes bite

That’s how easy it is to make Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes from scratch without using a boxed cake mix.  Trust me, these are 100% better!

PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT CUPCAKES

  • Sift your powdered sugar before adding it to your butter for your buttercream frosting.  I know I say it every time.. trust your friend Heather!!! … sift the powdered sugar or you will end up with lumps of sugar in your frosting and no one wants that!
  • Don’t have a large piping bag to make pretty whoop-whoop cupcakes?  Grab a large zip top bag, snip a bit off the bottom corner, add a decorating tip and then fill that bad boy up with your frosting.  I find if I push my bag into a tall tumbler glass, I can fill it a lot easier with a lot less mess.
  • Keep in mind that big fancy frosting jobs take a ton of frosting to accomplish.. double that frosting recipe if you are getting fancy.  
  • Bring your eggs to room temperature before using them. Room temperature eggs emulsify better and are fluffier than eggs right out of the refrigerator.
  • You want to make sure you are measuring your flour correctly. If you scoop out a measuring cup of flour directly from the bag, you will pack in way too much flour. To avoid this, spoon the flour into the measuring cup until its overfilled and then use the back of a butter knife to level the measuring cup at the top. Now you have the perfect flour measurement!
  • Use a small measuring cup to add your batter to your cupcake tins. This way your cupcakes are all the same size and save on (most) of the mess.
  • A trick for bringing refrigerated eggs to room temperature quicker is to let them sit in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
  • Buy milk while you are at the store. All cupcakes needs to be eaten with a big glass of milk. Buy milk.

HOW DO YOU ZEST A LEMON?

When a recipe calls for zest, it means finely minced or grated lemon peel. The lemon peel is the yellow ‘skin’ on a lemon and it sits on top of the white pith layer.

You can zest a lemon with a knife, a micro plane or even the small openings on a standard standing cheese grater.

To zest with the micro plane (shown below), just rub the lemon in one direction against the little blades.

Turn the lemon as you go so you remove only the yellow part.

The white layer is bitter so stroke only 2 or 3 times in one spot of the yellow before rotating the lemon to a new unzested spot.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes lemon zest

BEST WAY TO FROST CUPCAKES

Frosting cupcakes takes a bit of practice but is really easy once you get the hang of it. 

Start by moving your frosting to a decorating piping bag or if you are like me.. a big zip-lock bag.

You want to purchase a piping tip and after snipping the corner off of the bag, push your tip so that it is hanging out of the edge of the bag. 

Load your bag up with frosting and using even pressure, squeeze the frosting from the bag and onto your cupcake.

There are a TON of tutorials online to show you different, fancy techniques so you can frost cupcakes like a pro with just a few clicks.

HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER CUPCAKES

These lemon cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

They will also freeze well without the frosting. Simply freeze the cupcakes on a baking sheet for about 2 hours, then wrap each cupcake individually with plastic wrap before moving to a large zip top bag or freezer safe container.

Thaw completely before serving and top with a fresh batch of homemade frosting. 

MORE CUPCAKE RECIPES TO LOVE

ENJOY!!Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

 

Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes
Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes are delicious and whimsical and are a perfect treat for any occasion. Delicate lemon cupcakes from scratch with fresh raspberry buttercream frosting, these Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes are the ultimate sweet summer dessert.
Heather - A Wicked Whisk
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 17 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Serving Size 24

Ingredients

Lemon Cupcakes

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 2 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice about 1 1/2 lemons
  • 2 tablespoon lemon zest about 2 lemons
  • 1 cup milk

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 5 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 ounce raspberries, pureed about 1/2 cup

Instructions

Lemon Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line 24 cupcake pan cups with paper liners.
  • Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each egg until incorporated before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest.
  • Gently mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture, one third at a time, alternating and add the milk. Beat until just combined; do not over mix.
  • Fill the prepared cupcake liners with batter 3/4 full, and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a rack.

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

  • Puree the raspberries and then push the pureed raspberries through a sieve to remove the seeds
  • In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift the powdered sugar. Add the softened butter and cream together on low speed until the powdered sugar and butter are completely combined. Add in a pinch of salt and then the pureed raspberry sauce.
    Continue to beat on medium speed until the frosting is light and creamy. If frosting is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.  If it is too thick, add a tablespoon of water or milk to thin it out.

Notes

PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT CUPCAKES

  • Sift your powdered sugar before adding it to your butter for your buttercream frosting.  I know I say it every time.. trust your friend Heather!!! … sift the powdered sugar or you will end up with lumps of sugar in your frosting and no one wants that!
  • Don’t have a large piping bag to make pretty whoop-whoop cupcakes?  Grab a large zip top bag, snip a bit off the bottom corner, add a decorating tip and then fill that bad boy up with your frosting.  I find if I push my bag into a tall tumbler glass, I can fill it a lot easier with a lot less mess.
  • Keep in mind that big fancy frosting jobs take a ton of frosting to accomplish.. double that frosting recipe if you are getting fancy.  
  • Bring your eggs to room temperature before using them. Room temperature eggs emulsify better and are fluffier than eggs right out of the refrigerator.
  • You want to make sure you are measuring your flour correctly. If you scoop out a measuring cup of flour directly from the bag, you will pack in way too much flour. To avoid this, spoon the flour into the measuring cup until its overfilled and then use the back of a butter knife to level the measuring cup at the top. Now you have the perfect flour measurement!
  • Use a small measuring cup to add your batter to your cupcake tins. This way your cupcakes are all the same size and save on (most) of the mess.
  • A trick for bringing refrigerated eggs to room temperature quicker is to let them sit in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
  • Buy milk while you are at the store. All cupcakes needs to be eaten with a big glass of milk. Buy milk.

Nutrition

Serving: 30g | Calories: 296.8kcal | Carbohydrates: 43.3g | Protein: 2.5g | Fat: 13.2g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3.8g | Cholesterol: 59.1mg | Sodium: 122.1mg | Potassium: 50.9mg | Fiber: 0.6g | Sugar: 33.3g | Vitamin A: 520IU | Vitamin C: 2.8mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 0.6mg

Update Notes: This post was originally published in May of 2018 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in March of 2024.

 

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11 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Lemon and raspberry are always wonderful combination you made great cupcake that raspberry buttercream is die for. My kids will love it.

  2. These cupcakes look so delicious! I never used to cook much with lemon because I always thought it was way too tart. But now I love it, and always have lemons on hand. I love how lemon zest brightens up everything it touches

  3. 5 stars
    I can take zing in my day each and every day. I do like chocolate but lemon just makes me feel so good. I simply love the smell. Your cupcakes turned out so cute and I really like how you finished them off with the icing and the raspberry. Yep! One of these cupcakes would give me a lift.

  4. 5 stars
    Lemon and raspberry is such a great flavor combo, and the pink icing looks so pretty on top of the yellow cupcake! I love the simple garnish of raspberry and lemon slice,

  5. 5 stars
    raspberry + lemon equals the perfect summer bake for me. These look so good and your photos are fabulous

  6. This is perfect for spring! I feel that the heavier desserts are better during the winter months. I love the flavor combination of lemon and raspberry and can’t wait to make these. Cupcakes are just so fun to eat!!

    1. I agree completely!! I absolutely love cupcakes and would probably bake them every week if my waistline would permit it.haha.. Give these a try and let me know how you like them 🙂

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